iTV

A new rumor out from Apple’s supply chain in Asia has it that Foxconn, the world’s largest (and Apple’s favorite) contract manufacturer is testing some badass television panels with the shining Apple logo on them. But don’t get your hopes up high, because shipments of iTVs are unlikely to begin before 2014.

The rumor corroborates last week’s report by The Wall Street Journal claiming Apple is working with component suppliers in Asia to test several TV-set designs. Unnamed manufacturing sources also warn that the possibility of Apple using IGZO display panels from Sharp “is not high” as the firm is allegedly testing display panels ranging from 46 to 55 inches diagonally…

Brightcove founder, chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire previously shared some interesting observations regarding Apple’s living room strategy, saying that AirPlay technology and third-party apps will set a mythical Apple television set apart from traditional TV sets. And with Tim Cook telling NBC that television remains an “area of intense interest” for Apple.

Jeremy this morning shared some additional observations concerning the Apple TV strategy, noting Apple should best serve its customers with a companion $149 device rather than a full-blown HD TV set costing as much as two thousand bucks…

Here’s the latest on the Apple television front: it will certainly be announced in the next three years and it will look like, well, something. But whenever and whatever Apple unveils, rivals are sure to copy it. So says venture capitalist, the founder of Netscape and one of the early architects of the web, Marc Andreessen.

Andreessen, who sits on the board of Facebook and HP, is just the latest voice in what’s become a deafening roar of rumor, leaks and knowledgeable guesses surrounding talk that Apple will get into the television business. Somehow. Sometime…

Finally, after months of listening to pundits and analysts wildly speculate on an Apple TV set, there’s actually some real evidence that it exists. Well, sort of. Citing the usual ‘people familiar with the matter,’ The Wall Street Journal is reporting that it has learned that the Cupertino company is working with component suppliers in Asia to test several TV-set designs…

Here’s something to chew on as another Wall Street voice chimes in on the possibility of an Apple-made television set. In a survey, 47 percent of consumers say they are interested in an iTV with about the same number willing to pay more than a thousand bucks to put an Apple logo in their living room. Perhaps most intriguing is how one analyst opens the door to an iTV without the headaches of licensing content.

According to the survey by AlphaWise and Morgan Stanley, eleven percent of US head-of-households polled said they were “extremely interested” in an Apple television, with 36 percent “somewhat interested.” The 47 percent of interested consumers is greater than the number of people who were interested in the iPhone and iPad, when those Apple devices first entered the American conscious…

As big shot analysts and Hollywood execs continue to argue whether or not Apple might ever build a standalone television set, people privy to the inner workings of Silicon Valley’s technology darling are not as convinced as the general public appears to be. Former Apple vice president Jean-Louis Gassée took to his blog to offer his take on Tim Cook’s recent comments in an NBC interview about television being an “area of intense interest” for Apple. He calls the mythical iTV an “enduring fantasy” and opines why the Apple TV set-top box is the only Apple television you’ll ever need…

Ahead of this year’s WWDC, BGR editor Jonathan Geller claimed Apple would release a software development kit allowing developers to write third-party apps for the $99 Apple TV set-top box. His prediction was incorrect because to this date the hardware runs just a few stock apps as Apple’s been consistent in disregarding calls to open up the platform to third-party programmers.

Gene Munster, arguably the biggest proponent of a standalone Apple television set, has no doubt in his mind that apps are coming to your telly, recently predicting Cupertino will offer an updated Apple TV box with a TV app store as early as next year. In fact, Apple may have inadvertently leaked this capability because the Apple TV’s Movies menu has been spotted running banners that promote holiday apps and games…

Wall Street investors are among those intensely interested in Apple CEO Tim Cook’s remark that the iPad maker has “intense interest” in doing something about television. One observer believes Apple wants its logo on the king of the hill, top of the heap when it comes to consumer electronics: the television set. The company has never been one to work around the edges of an industry.

That’s why a Wells Fargo Securities analyst expects Apple to forgo a predicted set-top box and instead go for a full-blown Apple TV, calling it the “centerpiece of the living room”…

NBC’s much hyped interview with Tim Cook is scheduled to air today at 10pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific time. The network has posted a preview of the show containing Cook’s interesting comment on the state of the elusive and long-rumored Apple television set. In it, Apple’s chief executive likened the Apple TV project and the living room to an “area of intense interest”, but refused to provide any more details.

Remembering how Steve Jobs had insisted on describing the $99 hockey puck as a hobby business, it’s certainly interesting that Cook now positions the living room as a business opportunity Apple is keen on taking to the next level. Perhaps the rumored Xbox TV project from Microsoft has forced Apple to re-consider its “hobby” stance?

Sharp, the struggling Japanese consumer electronics maker, is finally taking its low-power IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) panels off the ground, announcing Wednesday a 32-inch monitor built around this proprietary display tech. And with 4K resolution of 3,840-by-2,160 pixels, it’s a marvel of cutting-edge display engineering.

That’s four times the pixels of the current full HD standard which maxes out at 1,920-by-1,080 pixels. In addition to low power consumption, the new monitor achieves the industry’s thinnest profile by adopting a specially designed edge LED backlight that’s only 35mm deep…

A member of The Verge forums posted a series of intriguing images depicting an à la carte heaven where the Apple TV box serves entertainment from pretty much any source imaginable, be it DLNA devices on the local network, your cable or satellite provider web sources like iTunes and YouTube – even premium channels like HBO and Fox. Regardless of the source, the concept calls for a unified interface bringing together all the different media sources in one central place, with voice-activated search, electronic program guides and other perks…

Like the left-over turkey that just won’t disappear from the fridge, talk of a full-blown, Apple-branded HD television set – the mythical iTV – lingers on in the minds of Wall Street seers. The product could carry a price of $1,500 and $2,000 and be introduced in time for Christmas 2013, one analyst forecast Tuesday. The shiny television product launch would highlight a long list of new products for Apple fans of all stripes.

Although Apple’s goal of offering à la carte TV programming is viewed as “unlikely,” some of the features made popular on the iPhone and iPad could be headed to a big-screen TV set spanning between 42 and 55 inches, according to perhaps the most vocal iTV proponent out there, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray…